Stage. Opening nights.

The Theater Of The Circus

March 24, 2000|By Lawrence Bommer.

With "BARNUM'S KALEIDOSCAPE," Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey's circus entertainment is back under the big top for the first time in quite a while. Emulating the highly successful Cirque du Soleil and Big Apple canvas creations, Feld Entertainment's new offering seeks to combine the structure of theater with classic circus acts in what will be the company's first tent production since 1956. Opening Wednesday in the parking lot adjacent to Soldier Field, the extravaganza consists of a carpeted complex of three tents with 1,850 "ringside seats," including sofa seating for those who are plushly inclined. To provide almost total immersion in the experience, every seat is guaranteed to be no more than 50 feet away from the ring. The acts in "Barnum's Kaleidoscape" include "clown of clown" David Larible, circus siren Sylvia Zerbini, Spanish juggling sensation Picasso Jr., the mesmerizing Golden Statues and "a kaleidoscopic cornucopia of ever-changing possibilities and surprises."

"Barnum's Kaleidoscape" runs through April 30 at the Soldier Field parking lot; 312-559-1212.

Other theater openings of interest:

"Checkmates," ETA Creative Arts Foundation, ETA Square, 7558 S. South Chicago Ave.; 773-752-3955: Opening Thursday, Ron Milner's marriage play contrasts what might called the "we" couples of the past with today's more self-absorbed partnerships. Says director Charles Michael Moore, "This is the story of two generations, one from the '40s and one from the '80s." According to playwright Milner, the drama asks: "How is it that African-Americans, a people who fought to hold families and extended families together during the worst of times, now in these `good' times have difficulty being and staying together?" Checkmates indeed.

"Jekyll & Hyde," Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St.; 312-902-1500: Frank Wildhorn's "The Civil War," which recently played the Cadillac Palace, has paved the way for the return of the Grammy winner's 1990 success. Armed with such recording hits as "Someone Like You" and "This Is the Moment," it became one of New York's big hits and launched three best-selling CDs. With a book and lyrics by Academy Award-winning lyricist Leslie Bricusse, "Jekyll & Hyde" reprises Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale of a good man at war with his evil side. Dr. Jekyll's medical experiment backfires and releases his very altered ego, a Jack the Ripper-style sexual predator. In this touring production of the 1997 Plymouth Theatre revival, Chuck Wagner re-creates his original performance in the duo title role. It opens Tuesday.

"Ballad Hunter," Chicago Dramatists, 1105 W. Chicago Ave.; 312-633-0630: Jenny Laird's prize-winning play receives its world premiere Friday in a staging by Robin Stanton. Struggling to survive on an isolated Appalachian mountain in 1937, the women of three generations become convinced they are cursed when everything around them mysteriously begins to die. Then Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal program invades this haunted and isolated land in the person of an idealistic stranger from the Rural Electrification Administration. The play, which earned Laird a 2000 Illinois Arts Council Playwriting Fellowship and a developmental reading at the 1996 Utah Shakespeare Festival, is already scheduled for April productions at The Asylum in Las Vegas and a West Coast premiere at Road Theatre in Los Angeles.

"Voice of Good Hope," Victory Gardens Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave.; 773-871-3000: Another intriguing world premiere, this new work by Chicago playwright and actress Kristine Thatcher (author of the 1996 hit "Emma's Child) opens Monday to pay tribute to the late Texas congresswoman Barbara Jordan. Jordan, who figured mightily in the 1974 impeachment hearings against Richard Nixon and is famous for her remark that the Founding Fathers forgot to include her in "We the People." Shedding light on the pivotal moments of the outspoken crusader's political career and personal life, the play chronicles her career from her childhood in the Houston ghetto to her arrival in the chambers of the House Judiciary Committee, the floors of two Democratic national conventions and finally a quiet, private room in an Austin hospital.

"The Cover of Life," Circle Theatre, 7300 W. Madison St., Forest Park; 708-771-0700: Running through April 30, R.T. Robinson's drama depicts the struggle of three brides in rural Louisiana who, married to three brothers, must cope with their absence during World War II and confront their beliefs and wishes for the postwar period.

"The Unfinished Works of Sir Linear Scribble," Hope and Nonthings at Neo-Futurarium, 5153 N. Ashland Ave.; 773-275-5255: Opening Monday, this new piece by John Pierson examines the works of the title writer, about whom nothing at all is known.

"Medea/Morphosis: Greek Tragedy to Go," The Free Associates at Ivanhoe Theatre, 750 W. Wellington Ave.; 773-975-7171: Wednesday night sees the opening of the Associates' latest parody. Created by director Mark Gagne, this unscripted spoof of the most harrowing elements of Greek tragedy features a cast of six merry pranksters.